Rip ordered urgently, "Kemp! Stop cutting. The rest of you get the stuff under cover. Ram it!" He hurried to lend a hand himself, hustling crates into the cave. Kemp had made astonishing progress. There was room for the crates, if stacked properly, and for the men besides. Rip supervised the stacking, then the placement of the rocket launcher at the entrance. "All hands inside the boat," he ordered. "Dowst, be ready to take off at a moment’s notice. You’ll have to buck this box around like never before." He explained to the pilot his plan to dodge, keeping the asteroid between the boat and the cruiser. "We’ll make it, sir," Dowst said. "I’m not worried," Rip replied, and wished it were true. He looked up at the Connie again. It was getting larger. The cruiser was within a few miles of the asteroid. As Rip watched, fire spurted from the cruiser and it moved with gathering speed toward the asteroid’s horizon. He watched the exhaust trail, wondering why the Connie had blasted off. "He has something up his sleeve," Koa muttered. "Wish we knew what." "Let’s take no chances," Rip stated. "Come on." The men were already in the boat. He and Koa joined them. They stood at a window, watching the Connie’s trail. The trail dwindled. Koa said, "Something’s up!" Suddenly new fire shot from one side of the cruiser and it spun. Balancing fire came from the other side, and for an instant the three exhausts formed a cross with the darkness of the Connie’s hull in the center. Then they could see only the exhausts from the sides. The stern flame was out of sight. "He’s made a full turn to come back this way," Rip stated tensely. "Dowst, get ready." The Connie was perhaps 20 miles away. It grew larger, and the side jets winked out. A few seconds later fire spurted from the nose. Rip figured rapidly. The cruiser had gone away far enough to make a turn. It had straightened out, heading right for them. Now the nose tube was blasting, slowing the cruiser down. He sighted, holding out one glove and gauging the Connie’s distance above the horizon, and his heart speeded. The Connie was right on the horizon! "Ram it!" Rip called. "Around the asteroid. Quick!" Acceleration jammed him back against his men as Dowst blasted. No sooner had he recovered than acceleration in a different direction shoved him up to the ceiling so hard that his bubble rang. He clawed his way to the window as the Connie cruiser flashed by, bathing the asteroid in glowing flame. There was a chorus of gasps from the men, as they saw the thing Rip had realized a moment before. The Consops cruiser was playing it safe, using its rocket exhaust as a great blowtorch to burn the surface of the asteroid clean! The sheer inhumanity of the thing made Rip’s stomach tighten into a knot. No asking for surrender, no taking of prisoners. Not even a clean fight. The Connie was doing its arguing with fire, knowing that the exhaust would char every man on the asteroid’s surface.